8 Spooky Spuds Idaho Potato Halloween Treats

Spooky Spuds Idaho Potato Halloween Treats are certain to put any trick-or-treater in the Halloween spirit. Your super heroes, goblins, princesses, and witches will be so distracted by these yummy Halloween treats they won’t know they’re eating potatoes…unless you add to their excitement and ask them to transform Idaho potatoes into spooky spuds.

Remember being a child and helping in the kitchen? It was a special time to spend with mom or grandmom, a time when a child could be creative and enjoy a yummy treat at the end.

Check out the Idaho potato Halloween treats recipe #2 below, Spooky Spuds – The Real Potato Head, for some hands-on Halloween fun the kids can do while you take care of the party preparations. Or better yet, include it as one of the Halloween party activities.

Spooky Spuds Idaho Potato Halloween Treats

In searching for fun, easy Halloween recipes, I found eight yummy, healthy recipes using Idaho potatoes. Treat the grandkids to these fun Spooky Spuds Halloween Idaho Potato treats any time of the year, changing to suit the season or holiday.

It’s a mummy…it’s a ghost…it’s an Idaho® potato? The Idaho Potato Commission (IPC) has recently enriched its website with a selection of new Halloween recipes for spooky spuds Halloween treats. From Creepy Crawly Idaho® Potatoes to Spooktacular Idaho® Potato Soup, these hauntingly delicious dishes are certain to put any trick-or-treater in the Halloween spirit.

“These Idaho Potato Halloween Treats perfectly showcase the versatility of the Idaho® potato. How many other vegetables can be ‘disguised’ as a purple vampire bat, a ghost or even a green coiled snake?” said Frank Muir, President/CEO, IPC. “No matter how you prepare your Idaho® potato though, you can’t disguise its great flavor and nutritional profile.

8 Recipes for Idaho Potato Halloween Treats

Idaho Potato Halloween Treats Recipe #1:

Yummy Mummy Heads

Yield: 16 pieces; 2 pieces per serving

Ingredients

4 medium Yukon Gold Idaho® potatoes, scrubbed (about 2 pounds total)

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

3/4 cup pizza sauce

16 turkey pepperoni slices, coarsely chopped

32 pitted ripe olives

8 mozzarella string cheese, unwrapped, room temperature

16 capers

1/4 of a red bell pepper, cut in 1/4-inch cubes

Directions

Place the potatoes on a large foil-lined baking sheet. Brush both sides of the potatoes with the oil, sprinkle evenly with the oregano, salt and black pepper. Bake 8 minutes, turn and bake 7 minutes or until tender when pierced with a fork. Remove from oven and turn potatoes again.

Spoon equal amounts of the pizza sauce over each, (about 2 teaspoon per slice). Sprinkle evenly with the pepperoni. Place an olive near the center of each potato slice to form a “nose”. Pull off thin strips of the cheese and lay across the potato to form the “bandages”. (Note: the cheese may hang over the edges of the potato slightly. They will form the shape of the potato when melted.) Cut the remaining olives in half lengthwise and place two halves above the “nose” to form the “eye sockets”. Place capers and bell pepper cubes in the center of each olive half to form the “eyeballs”.

Bake 3-4 minutes or until cheese has melted slightly. Remove with a flat spatula and place on a large serving platter. Serve hot or room temperature.

Idaho Potato Halloween Treats Recipe #2:

Spooky Spuds – The Real Potato Head

This Halloween, turn a baked Idaho® potato into a spooky, edible creature. Have plenty of fresh vegetables on hand and watch the kids’ creativity take over.

Note: For dramatic purposes, small chili peppers were used in photography for nose, arms and feet. Chili peppers vary in degree of heat and some may be too hot for children.

Directions

After baking, let potato cool to touch.

Select vegetables to create spooky spud character and choose approximate location where to attach on potato. Create a small hole*, deep enough in the potato to secure vegetables. Gently press the vegetables into the hole. (For smaller vegetables a small dab of honey can be used to secure vegetables.)

Enjoy spooky spud before digging into potato.Note: Small impression may be made in potato with the tip of a turkey baster.

Idaho Potato Halloween Treats Recipe #3:

Mashed Idaho® Potato Ghost

Yield: 8- 10 servings

Ingredients

2 pounds Idaho® potatoes, peeled and quartered

4 ounces lightly salted butter

2 teaspoons Kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper

Black olive slices

Other Materials for Creating the Ghosts:

Wax paper

Pen

Scissors

Directions

Cook potatoes in large pot of boiling water until tender.

Drain, transfer to a mixing bowl and mash with the butter. Season with salt and pepper.

Using the pen, draw different shaped ghosts on the wax paper. Use your imagination – make them tall, short, fat and skinny!

Cut out each ghost and place the cut out on a plate. Using the wax paper as your guide, spoon the mashed potatoes onto the cut-out ghost. Use the black olive slices for eyes or decorate as you wish.

Directions

In a medium mixing bowl, add yellow food coloring to the potatoes and stir to combine; add a few drops of red food coloring to the potatoes and stir again to mix the colors, adding more red coloring to achieve the desired shade of orange.

Using clean, damp hands, form the potatoes into 32 small balls (each about 1 1/2-inches in diameter). On each of 4 microwave-safe plates, arrange 8 potato balls, side-by-side and overlapping each other slightly, to form curved caterpillar bodies. Insert green beans for legs on the sides of the caterpillar bodies.

To finish, decorate each caterpillar with additional vegetables of your choice. To achieve our look, make stripes down the back of the bodies with thawed frozen carrot cubes, chives snipped to 1/2-inch lengths, thawed frozen peas for eyes and a slice of celery for a smile. Reheat the caterpillars in the microwave and serve.

Creepy Idaho® Potato Critters: Green Coiled Snake (see above)

Ingredients

Directions

In a medium mixing bowl, add the food coloring to the potatoes a few drops at a time, stirring to combine. Add more coloring to achieve the desired shade of green.

Spoon 1 cup of the mashed potatoes into a plastic, zip-top sandwich bag; press out the air and zip it closed. Snip one inch off of one corner at the bottom of the bag. On a microwave-safe plate, pipe a 4-inch diameter circle by squeezing the potatoes out of the hole in the bag. Continue to pipe concentric circles toward the center of the plate. When the bag is nearly empty, lift and squeeze the remainder to form the head of the snake. (Keep in mind that if you don’t like the looks of your snake you can scrape the potatoes back into the bag and start again!). Repeat with the remaining potatoes on 3 additional plates to make a total of 4 snakes.

To finish, carefully remove the pimientos from the olives. Snip each pimiento nearly in half lengthwise to form forked tongues. Cut slices from the olives for the eyes. Place tongues and eyes on the snakes, and finish eyes by inserting corn kernels inside the olive slices. If additional decoration is desired, combine 4 drops of food coloring with 2 teaspoons water in a small bowl; using a small, clean, paint brush, paint stripes or dots down the backs of the snakes. Reheat the snakes in the microwave and serve.

Directions

In a medium mixing bowl, add red food coloring to the potatoes and stir to combine; add a few drops of blue food coloring to the potatoes and stir again to mix the colors, adding more coloring to achieve the desired shade of pink.

Using clean, damp hands, form 4 small potato balls (each about 1-inch in diameter); place each small ball on a microwave-safe plate to form the spiders’ heads. Form the remaining potatoes into four equal balls; place them on the plates to form the spiders’ bodies. Insert 4 green beans into each side of the spider bodies for the legs.

To finish, decorate each spider with the vegetables of your choice. To achieve our look, make rows of black olive slices along the top and use slivers of roasted red peppers on the sides. Make spots all over the bodies with frozen peas (thawed) and insert trimmed scallions for antennae. Sprinkle the spiders’ bodies with coarsely ground black pepper. Reheat the spiders in the microwave and serve.

Idaho Potato Halloween Treats Recipe #7:

Creepy Crawly Idaho® Potatoes

Yield: 32 potato halves; 4 potato halves per serving

Ingredients

17 small new Idaho® potatoes, about 2 ounces each, halved crosswise

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 cup herbed cream cheese, softened

2 teaspoons milk

8 ounces finely shredded reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese (2 cups)

1 cup bacon bits

2 pecan halves

2 ripe olive slices

1/2 of a 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 medium green onion

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Place 16 of the potatoes in a large bowl. Set the remaining potato aside for garnish. Drizzle with the oil and sprinkle with the paprika and toss until well coated. Place on a large foil-lined baking sheet, cut side down in a single layer and bake 18 minutes or until tender when pierced with a fork. Remove from the oven and cool completely on the baking sheet.

In a small bowl, stir together the cream cheese and milk. Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly over the skin of each potato. Using the foil as a work surface, place the potatoes cut side down on the foil. Sprinkle each evenly with the cheese and top with the bacon.

Assembly Directions:

Arrange all the baked potato halves, except two, on a wooden cutting board or a large serving platter to create a curved “s” shape. Place the remaining two potatoes side by side at one end of the curve to form the “head”.

Arrange the pecan halves on top to form the “ears” and the olives in the center to form the “eyes”. Place two black beans in the center of each olive.

Cut 3 inches off the green portion of the onions and cut in thin strips to form “whiskers”. Place under the head.

Arrange the beans along both sides of the curve to create “feet”. Cut thin strips into the remaining portion of the green onion for the “tail” and secure with a toothpick into the other end of the curve. Cut a wedge from the uncooked potato for the “nose.”

Directions

Preheat broiler.

Place the bell pepper halves and poblano peppers on a foil-lined baking sheet, cut side down. Broil 15 minutes, or until lightly charred, turning the baking sheet midway to brown peppers evenly. Place peppers in a medium bowl. Cover and let stand 25 minutes to allow flavors to absorb and cool slightly.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Cook the onions and celery 4 minutes or until onions are translucent, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook 15 seconds, stirring constantly. Set aside.

Remove the skin from the peppers and place the “meat” of the peppers in the saucepan. Stir in the potatoes and the broth. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat, cover and simmer 13-15 minutes or until celery is tender. Remove from heat. Working in 1-cup batches, place pepper mixture in blender with the cilantro, secure lid, hold lid down tightly and puree until smooth. Return to the saucepan, add the half and half. Place over medium heat and cook 2-3 minutes or until heated. Add salt to taste.

Assembly Directions:

In a small bowl, stir together 2 tablespoons of the soup with the food coloring and set aside.

Spoon equal amounts of the soup (about 1 cup) in each of 6 soup bowls. Place two cilantro leaves on the top portion of the soup to form the “eyelashes”. Using a 1/4 teaspoon measuring spoon, spoon onto the edge of each piece of cilantro to form the “eyeballs”. Place a pepperoncini half in the center for the “nose” and two capers for the “pupils”.

*Note: The poblano chilies provide a mild heat to the dish. For a milder dish, substitute the poblano chili peppers with 1 additional green bell pepper.

Do have other Idaho potato halloween treats? Share with us here or provide links to Pinterest or your blog.

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Jersey Shore Grandmother of 5 great kids, retired special ed high school teacher, married since 1972 to Poppy...loves spoiling the grands, crocheting for whomever I can and charities, reading, crafts, outdoors, blogging...and retirement.